Katarina Tarr gave birth to her son Elias last August while she was living in Germany.

At that moment, soccer was the furthest thing from the 27-year-old's mind. But when Tarr, her husband and her son returned to the United States in September, the defender started to think about renewing her soccer career.

"I wasn't expecting to do this," Tarr said. "I came back in September and I was just thinking about my family. But I got back here and I had this team in my backyard and I thought, 'you know what, I might as well go for it.'"

The Vancouver, Wash. native was cleared to start jogging in January and started going to a local track every day to train. Only a month later, she was at an open tryout for the Portland Thorns.

Tarr immediately caught the attention of Thorns coach Paul Riley because of her impressive soccer resume.

The former University of Missouri player had spent the last four years in Germany playing for Frauen Bundesliga club SGS Essen.

Riley invited Tarr to preseason and the defender continued to impress the Thorns coach on the field.

Tarr lost 15 pounds between the open tryouts and the Thorns first game as she continued to get back into soccer shape.

"I was very exhausted after the first few trainings," Tarr said. "(Riley's) always saying, 'keep going, keep pushing' and that's what I did. I just put my head down and kept going and knew that it would get better and it did."

Tarr made her first start on May 10 at home against the Seattle Reign.

"Just being in front of my community and my classmates from high school and middle school and my parents and family, I was just really pumped and excited," Tarr said. "It was an easy transition, I would say, because I felt very comfortable being here in front of the people I know and love."

The defender has started every game since making her first start against Seattle, but still believes she is improving every day and can only get better.

"I wouldn't say that this is the best," Tarr said. "I totally feel like myself and our team are moving forward and that's the direction you want to go."